Making a Mark

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I have a few more projects to share with you showcasing the fabulous stamps that were featured during the TV shows this month on Create and Craft.

My first project is a DL card, created using a piece of book paper, which I coloured with some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink around the edges. I added some stamping using images from the Timeless stamp set, the splatter stamps are so useful to create an aged look. 

I stamped the Tagtastic stamp onto a piece of Drawing Cartridge that I had previously stained with tea and sprinkled with salt. I wanted to fill the tag image completely, so I used some of the smaller images from the Timeless stamp set to cover the blank areas; the bar code, the big splat, the mini clock, and the label definition. I used a bit of the Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and some water to colour some of the clocks on the main image.

My other two projects are older cards that I have shared before. I know that lots of our viewers are new to Chocolate Baroque, so I hope that you will not mind me sharing these again. 

The first card was created by stamping the fabulous large butterfly from Patchwork Butterfly onto a Brusho background from my stash. I stamped the image in one corner, and masked off the image with Masking Tissue. I then added images from Numerology, Make Your Mark, and the sentiment from Patchwork Butterfly over the background in colours to co-ordinate with the background colours. 

I coloured the butterfly with pencils, and added some shading around the edge of the butterfly with a grey pencil to create a shadow.

My next card was created using a Distress Ink background, using ones of blue and brown. I added stamps from Make Your Mark, Timeless, and Steampunk Butterfly to the Background. I embossed two Butterflies from the same stamp set using copper embossing powder, and coloured them using Inktense pencils. I added a sentiment from Punky Expressions.

My last two projects for today were made with the A Year of Stamping Issue 2 - February stamp. I wanted to show how different one stamp could look. For the first interpretation, I stamped the image on smooth stamping card, and coloured the mage with blue toned Inktense pencils. I created a matching background with Distress Inks and added some white embossing over the top. I used a circle stencil, and a stamp from Make Your Mark. I stamped the image itself using a deep blue Versafine Ink, instead of black for a change.

The second version was stamped on grey card, and coloured with regular pencils. I added some white shading in the circles behind the flowers.  The background was again made with Distress Inks in zingy colours this time, yellow, green and pink. I added stamping using images from Make Your Mark and Numerology.

I hope that you have enjoyed seeing what I have created. Thanks so much for stopping by, your visits are always appreciated. Take care, xx

Autumn Colours

Hello everyone, I have some leafy projects to share with you today. I thoroughly enjoyed using the new From Nature 1 stamp set that Lesley created and showcased last month on the TV shows. This set is so versatile, and will be a 'go to' set for me when I need to create cards for so many different occasions.

For my first project, I chose a piece of patterned paper, and stamped the large tag from Tagtastic using black ink. I added a bit of shading using Distress Ink around the edges. I stamped two of the flower heads from Floral Grunge onto book paper, and coloured them using pencil, in colours that matched the tag. I worked out where I wanted the flowers to go and stamped some little leaves from the From Nature 1 stamp set so that they would be peeking out from behind the flower heads. I used Versafine Clair ink. I also added the fabulous splatter stamp from Numerology, before adhering the flower heads, and trimming them to fit the tag shape. I then edged the tag again with black ink.

I created a background on a piece of Drawing Cartridge using Distress Ink, using colours to match the tag. I used a larger leaf and Versafine Clair ink as before to stamp all over the background, to echo the design on the tag. These are my favourite colours, I try not to work with them all of the time, but I love how they look together.

For my second design, I inked up my gelli plate with a shade of green Distress Ink, and stamped one of the leaves from the stamp plate randomly over the plate. I pulled a print with smooth white card, and cut the card to the size that I wanted. I then chose a shade of green Versafine Clair, and stamped a smaller leaf stamp over the background, and added one of the sentiments. This was a really quick card, but great fun to create.

You could vary the colours, and each card would turn out differently.

My final card is a variation of a card from my previous post. I inked up a background using Distress Ink, and then just stamped lots of leaves in first and second generation stamping using Versafine Clair and Archival Inks. I love this riot of Autumn colour.

I created a little embellishent from paper clay to go on this final card, and was really in two minds about whther to add it or not. It looked fine, but in the end I decided not to use it. The colours really went well together, but I will use it for something else, at another point in time. 

I will be back later in the month with more projects to share. Thanks so much for stopping by, xx

My House, Poppy Cottage

Hello everyone, I have a few projects to share with you today featuring a very special stamp showcased on last month's TV shows on Hochanda, but first of all I would like to talk to you a little bit about the background of the stamp.

You are all probably very familiar with the very talented Kim Moody whose stamps are manufactured by Chocolate Baroque. His quirky stamps feature architectural images, and seaside scenes which are such a delight to work with. Kim also does commission drawings of houses and other buildings, adding his particular eye for detail. I decided to ask Kim some time ago to draw a picture of my own house Poppy Cottage, and we discussed adding lots of features that I love about my house; the dragonfly door knocker, the wrought iron butterflies on the balcony, the dovecote in the garden, and of course, he needed to include Poppy and Bella, my two cats. Poppy is a bit plump, and Bella is rather skinny, so you can tell them apart! I sent a few photographs, and Kim came up trumps with a delightful drawing, beautifully framed for me.

A few months on, and I asked Lesley if it would be possible to have the stamp made, as I would really love to create Christmas cards using 'Poppy Cottage' as a personal touch. We hoped that you would love the image as much as we did, and decided to try it out as a small batch on one of the TV shows. I was so touched that you really liked it!

I created a couple of samples for the show, the first one was created by stamping an image from the Poppy Edges stamp set a couple of times, then masking these images before stamping Poppy Cottage itself. I masked the house also, then added a Pan Pastel background.

I added foliage from the Silhouette Grasses stamp set before removing all of the masks. I coloured the images with pencils and added one of the sentiments which I stamped onto sections of card, and edged with a plum coloured ink. I chose the same coloured card to mat the project onto before adhering it to a large card blank.

My second project was a Christmas card, to show the versatility of this lovey stamp. You could use it at any time of the year really, by adding extra foliage, and varying the colours. I have chosen to stick to the true colours of my house for these samples, but you can let your imagination run riot.

I stamped the house once again, and masked the image. I used a snowflake from The Christmas Garden and white embossing over the top two thirds of the background. I covered the background with Distress Ink, and the embossing acted as a resist.I coloured the image with Koh-I-Noor paints, and added a bit of Stickles for some Christmas bling. The sentiment comes from the Let's Get Festive stamp set.

My final project was a heart stopping TV demo, and it could have gone horribly wrong on live TV, but fortunately, it all worked out well. I decided to create a little key ring or handbag charm using shrink plastic. I die cut a large tag, and stamped the image using Archival Ink. I coloured the image using Copic markers and cut a hole at one end. I shrunk the plastic using a heat gun, turning it over regularly to ensure even heating, and flattened it with an acrylic block before it had time to cool.

I drew around the shape onto a piece of greyboard, and covered this with some scrapbook paper using Matte Medium. For the keyring, I stuck the shrink plastic to the greyboard shape with Matte Medium, but for the handbag charm, I let the shrink plastic swing freely.

Even shrunk down you can still see the details so clearly, and these little charms make a fabulous little gift. You could try this idea using the Tagtastic stamp and any of the tall houses that either Kim Moody or Sue Page have designed recently.

I will back later in the month with more ideas to share with you. I hope that you will watch Lesley on this month's TV shows on 3rd September, she has some amazing new stamps to share with you. Sadly I will not be there this month due to family circumstances, but I will be back again in October.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

A Bit of Romance

Hello everyone, I have a couple of projects to share with you today, both with a slightly romantic feel, showcasing stamps used from last month's shows on Hochanda.

My first project features a beautiful image from the Harlequin Rose stamp set. I love this image, and it has proved so useful for Weddings and Anniversaries over the years. It can be used on its own, or linked with another one, as I have done on this card.

I chose a piece of patterned paper designed by Lesley, and stamped and embossed the image twice, using white embossing powder. I fussy cut the images, and cut one of the hearts where I needed to join them together. I simply slipped the 'broken' heart through the gap in the other heart. I used a piece of the same paper as a background, and cut a slightly smaller piece of kraft card as the forground. (If you are trying to stretch your papers as far as possible, you can use what would be hidden underneath for the hearts). I embossed the sentiment using white embossing powder once more, and added faux stitching using a white gel pen.

The addition of the kraft card makes this a great Anniversary or Valentine's card for a man. Using patterned papers makes it fairly quick to make, even with the fussy cutting, as there is no extra colouring involved, so why not have a look through your stash of pretty papers to see what you can use up.

To create my second card, I coloured some Drawing Cartridge using Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink on a craft mat, spritzing it with water, and patting the Drawing Cartridge into the ink. I dried the paper with a heat gun, and then blotted up some of the remaining ink before drying the background once more. I stamped the Tagtastic stamp at one end of the background and cut this out, the remainder of the background was sufficient to create a background for the card.

I used words from the Amazing Mackintosh Words stamp set to create a random background on the tag, stamping them in black ink. I stamped some horizontally and some vertically, making sure that they were straight, whichever direction I was stamping. I stamped a rose from the Rose and Thistle stamp set onto a spare piece of Drawing Cartridge, coloured it in with Distress Inks and fussy cut it out. I attached this to the tag, and added some bright red ribbon to the tag. I attached the tag to the larger background, added a Birthday sentiment, and used some black card as a matting layer. You could add some of the tiny rosebuds from the Rose and Thistle set to the background if you feel that the background is too plain, but I did not mind it like this. I had added some red spatters to the tag as a contrast anyway.

I hope that you will try some of my ideas out for yourselves, thanks for stopping by, xx

Stamping on Patterned Paper

Hello everyone, I have some more projects to share with you today showcasing the beautiful bookmark style houses that we brought to Hochanda last month. These three projects formed part of a TV demo that I did on one of the shows. I wanted to demonstrate how to stamp onto a patterned surface, and when an image is coloured, the image pops out, and the patterned surface recedes to the background.

I used a piece of Lesley's Chic Script Designer paper pack, and cut  a piece of the script paper to size. I stamped the Tree House onto the paper. I added a few lines at the bottom using a fineliner pen to finish the landscape, and coloured the image with pencils. I added shading with grey pencil for added depth.

I took a plain piece of green paper from the pach, and using one of the trees from Trees a Crowd and a sentiment, I created a piece of background paper using Pistachio Memento Ink. This was really quick to create, and you can have your own designer background in minutes! I inked the edges of both pieces of paper with the green ink for definition. As you can see, the script paper looks great as a background, and the house sits really well on the pattern.

For my second card, I used the large Tagtastic stamp and stamped onto a piece of book paper. I stamped the Garden House image inside the tag, and coloured the image with pencils once again. I added a bit of shading on the background using Distress Inks.

For the large background, I used a large acrylic block and added pink, blue and green Distress Oxide which I spritzed with water. I smooshed it across a piece of drawing cartridge in one go. I stamped two bees from the Honey Bee stamp set, and added a sentiment. I coloured the bees with pencils and added Stickles to the wings.

For my final card, I created a gelli print background, adding a bubble effect texture, and stamping a sentiment randomly over the background. I used a Crafty Individuals script effect tag and stamped the Heath Robinson House, which I then coloured with pencils. I added bright red highlights which I matched with a bright red ribbon. I added shading to the tag with Distress Inks, matching the colour of the gelli print background.

I hope that you have enjoyed my projects this month, I will be back next month with lots more to share with you, thanks for stopping by, xx

Wildflowers Through the Seasons

Hello everyone, I have a project to share with you today ustilising the fabulous Tagtastic stamp featured on last month's TV shows on Hochanda. I wanted to show another use for this stamp, and paired it up with the Wild Meadow stamp set for my project.

I started by stamping the image on masking tissue several times, and cutting the image out. I then stamped the image onto my background using grey ink a couple of times, and then masked the images. I stamped the image again, masking those images, and continued, building up layers of the tag, until I had filled the page. I then added Fossilized Amber onto the background to fill in the 'blank' areas. I added different colours of Distress Inks to the tags, using reverse masking, and then stamped foliage into each tag using various colours of Versafine Clair Ink, while the reverse masks were in place. This meant that the foliage stalks did not overlap the edge of the tags.

I had great fun creating this card, and you could use the idea in a much smaller way for a tag or mixed media project.


I have a bonus project which I created more recently, as I needed to make a Christmas card for my lovely Hubby. I used one of Lesley's beautiful papers, one of the plain designs. I drew a circle in pencil, and added a few snowflakes, which I embossed using white embossing powder. I added a sentiment from the Let's Get Festive stamp set, and built the wreath using foliage from the Wild Meadow stamp set. I added a touch of shading used Seedless Preserves Distress Ink to make the snowflakes really pop.

I will be back later in the month with more ideas to share with you, but would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Christmas. I hope that you can enjoy the day, whatever you are doing. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Rainbow Tags

Hello everyone, I have a project to share today using some of the stamps and papers that we brought to you on last month's TV shows on Hochanda. I wanted to use a little bit of everything in this project, and incorporate lots of colour to cheer up these gloomier days that we are having at the moment.

I started by stamping three of the Tagtastic tag shapes with Versamark, and covering them with white embossing powder. I also added three of the little tag 'hole' shapes onto the background of each tag, and then heat set everything. I stamped and embossed three of the flower designs, Shared Beauty, Floral Grunge, and Movie Strip Collage, and a little butterfly from the Wild Meadow stamp set onto some of the lovely papers designed by Lesley, and used the papers to help me decide on the colours that I used to colour each tag. I settled on three colours of Distress Ink for each tag.

Once the tags were coloured, I stamped the sentiments from the Shared Beauty stamp set over each tag in the same colours of Distress Ink. I cut the flowers and butterflies out of the papers, and adhered them to the tags, and then attached the tags to a tryptich made from corrugated card. Finally, I added some rainbow coloured ribbon to each tag.

Thanks for stopping by, xx